Nigel Caldicott joined the Royal Engineers as a boy soldier in 1966, spending two years training in Dover before being stationed at Bovingdon where his passion for tanks began. Nigel shares fascinating memories of his service, including time spent in Germany during the Cold War, reflecting on preparations for the very real danger posed by NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) warfare. He goes on to talk about his various military roles during the Troubles in Northern Ireland when the use of AVREs (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) became increasingly important, and he details the hard work the REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) put into getting the tanks into top condition and the maintenance required to keep them fit for service. Nigel served a total of 34 years in the Army and the Territorial Army, receiving a warrant from The Queen and taking great pride in his service throughout his career. The stories he shares here of his remarkable service are certain to be of great interest to military enthusiasts for many years to come.

George Reynolds tells the story of his military career, where each memory is as engrossing as the next. Following in his father’s footsteps, George enlisted in the army in 1937. Not long after, in 1939, he was off to India, where he had become both a stand out signaller and a skilled equestrian.   By 1941, his regiment found themselves embroiled in battle against the invading Japanese army. Troubling times followed; the Japanese succeeded in their occupation, George among the 80,000 taken as POW.   He was first put to work in a Singapore prison, where he detailed his starved but tanned condition, a result of outdoor work. After being shipped off to Taiwan in 1942, George recalls his torturous experience in a copper mine, where he faced the threat of beatings, malnutrition, and sickly skin, all at a level he had never seen before.  I’m sure you’ve gone through a roller coaster of emotions engaging with George’s story, but he closes on a powerful note. Following his liberation by the American Navy in 1945, George was plunged into a moral dilemma – how was he supposed to feel about the people who had hurt him?   To hate them, he says, was akin to a “cancer eating away at him”. At once, there and then, he decided to “forgive but not forget”. This ultimately underlines the hardiness and determination of a soldier, who, after seven long years away from home, was favoured to live to tell the tale. 

Davies joined the Territorial Army as a teenager just before the Second World War and became a regular soon after, obtaining an officer’s commission in 1941 and joining the Commandos, following his older brother. Davies took part in the allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942 and landed by beach behind German lines in Tunisia to assist in a planned allied attack of the town of Bizerte. The Commandos came under intense fire, suffering casualties, including his own troop commander who was fatally shot. Davies eventually lead his own section back to allied lines where they joined the successful allied push against the Germans. Soon after Davies returned to England for training before being sent to the Far East. In January 1945, Davies, now with 5 Commando landed on the Myebon Peninsula in Burma and took part in the taking of Hill 170 at Kangaw, a desperate battle that lasted 36 hours and which led to the withdrawal of the Japanese Army from the Arakan. Whilst planning for the invasion of Malaya, the war ended and Davies then went to Hong Kong and Shanghai, where he assisted in repatriating British men and women interned by the Japanese. Davies was demobbed in May 1946.